This Feb. 26, 2013 photo released by NBC shows cast member Jason Sudeikis, left, and guest host Kevin Hart during rehearsals for "saturday Night Live," in New York. Hart will host the show on Saturday, March 2, with musical guest Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. (AP Photo/NBC, Dana Edelson)
This Feb. 26, 2013 photo released by NBC shows cast member Jason Sudeikis, left, and guest host Kevin Hart during rehearsals for "saturday Night Live," in New York. Hart will host the show on Saturday, March 2, with musical guest Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. (AP Photo/NBC, Dana Edelson)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Like most people who get the chance to host "Saturday Night Live," Kevin Hart is excited to have the gig.
Unlike most hosts, Hart is proving to be complicated.
For starters, the 32-year-old comedian-actor doesn't like making eye contact. When he writes his jokes, he has to do it in a "think tank" ? alone, in his home.
He also has to stand on top of an apple box when performing. Sometimes, he has to stand on two of them.
That's why collaborating with the "SNL" cast and crew feels like a new process for Hart, who is hosting the NBC show this weekend.
"I am what you would a call a genius," said Hart, as the "SNL" cast and crew burst into laughter.
"So this process here is a little different. ... A lot of people came in the room and were looking into my eyes and it threw me off a little bit," he says jokingly, but in a serious tone. "So I just closed my eyes and let them talk and kind of took it all in. And then I recited everything they said."
Hart was in good spirits and self-deprecating ? as usual ? as he shot "SNL" promos with Jason Sudeikis and Bobby Moynihan on Tuesday.
His hosting gig on "SNL" is another notch on his growing resume: He hosted last year's MTV Video Music Awards, has appeared on ABC's "Modern Family" and starred in the romantic comedy "Think Like a Man."
He's also the star of the BET parody series "Real Husbands of Hollywood" (Tuesday, 10 p.m. EST) with Robin Thicke and Nick Cannon. The Philadelphia-born Hart said he's "anxious," but not worried, about hosting "SNL."
"You can't get nervous about what you love to do. This is what I love to do, so the opportunity to do it on this stage is ridiculous," he said.
Duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, known for their hit "Thrift Shop," will perform Saturday night. Hart says he's a fan of group ? sort of.
"I am a fan now 'cause I found out who they were when I realized they were going to be on the show with me. So because of the Internet and the Google search, I Googled them," he said, as others laughed. "I educated myself ? almost another genius move of mine ? to think to Google somebody that I didn't know."
So is Hart enjoying the group's massive, multiplatinum anthem about buying used clothes?
"I didn't hear that. Didn't hear that one. Don't know what that one is," he said. "But I heard some other stuff. Don't really know the titles. But I know (Macklemore's) white ? from Google."
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Online:
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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - It looks like Ben Stiller will be adding a little more Wonder to "Arrested Development."
"Night at the Museum" star Stiller has signed on to return for the upcoming season of "Arrested Development" for an episode, a spokeswoman for Netflix told TheWrap on Tuesday.
While Netflix would not confirm character details, which has generally been the case for guest stars on the upcoming season of "Arrested Development," it's a pretty safe bet that Stiller will reprise his role as magician Tony Wonder, a character he portrayed on two episodes of the series during its original Fox run.
Stiller joins a swelling list of guest stars for the revival that includes Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, "Mad Men" star John Slattery and Conan O'Brien. Henry Winkler and Liza Minnelli have also signed on to reprise their roles as Bluth family attorney Barry Zuckerkorn and Lucille Austero, respectively.
The show might as well pack in as many guest stars as it can - the 14-episode season, which will premiere in its entirety on Netflix in May, will likely be the final one, at least on Netflix.
Speaking at Morgan Stanley's Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco on Monday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said, "It's a fantastic one-off ... Think about it as a non-repeatable amazing."
EW.com first reported the news of Stiller's "Arrested Development" return.
NEW YORK, NY-February 27, 2013 - The Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College has named author and New Yorker staff writer/ theater critic Hilton Als as the Writer-in-Residence for the 2013 semester. Hilton Als will present a free, public reading of his work on March 19 at 5:45p.m.
Named after American businessman and renowned alumnus Sidney Harman (?39) and funded through his generosity, the Harman Writers-in-Residence Program invites distinguished poets, novelists, journalists, playwrights, essayists and critics to campus each semester to teach small classes in writing and present a public reading of their work. The three-credit classes are open to students of all majors who must submit an online application and writing samples in order to participate. Mr. Als will be teaching a workshop in reviewing and criticism throughout the 2013 semester.
Before coming to The New Yorker, Mr. Als was a staff writer for the Village Voice and an editor-at-large at Vibe. He has also written articles for The Nation and collaborated on film scripts for ?Swoon? and ?Looking for Langston.? His first book, ?The Women,? a meditation on gender, race and personal identity, was published in 1996, followed by ?Justin Bond/Jackie Curtis? in 2010. His new book, ?White Girls,? will be published by McSweeney?s in 2013. Mr. Als has received numerous awards, including first prize in1997 for Magazine/Critique/Review and Magazine Arts and Entertainment by the New York Association of Black Journalists; a Guggenheim for Creative Writing in 2000; and the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism for 2002-2003.
DETAILS
WHAT: Harman Writer-in-Residence, A Reading and Conversation with Hilton Als
WHERE: Rackow Conference Room ? Room 750, Information and Technology Building, 151 E. 25th Street (between Third and Lexington)
For more information about the Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence Program visit www.baruch.cuny.edu/wsas/academics/writer_in_residence/ or contact Roslyn Bernstein, Professor of Journalism and the Writing Professions at 646-312-3930 or roslyn.bernstein@baruch.cuny.edu.
##
About Baruch College:
Baruch College is a senior college in the City University of New York (CUNY) with a total enrollment of more than 17,000 students, who represent 160 countries and speak more than 100 languages. Ranked among the top 15% of U.S. colleges and the No. 5 public regional university, Baruch College is regularly recognized as among the most ethnically diverse colleges in the country. As a public institution with a tradition of academic excellence, Baruch College offers accessibility and opportunity for students from every corner of New York City and from around the world.? For more about Baruch College, go to http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/.
ZURICH (Reuters) - Three people, including the suspected assailant, have been killed in a shooting at a factory near the Swiss city of Lucerne, police said on Wednesday.
Seven others were injured in the attack which happened just after 9 a.m. (0800 GMT) at a wood processing company in the town of Menznau, west of Lucerne, the police said in a statement.
Emergency services were at the scene and the area had been cordoned off. A news conference is due at 2 p.m. (1300 GMT).
Last month, a gunman killed three women and injured two men in the Swiss village of Daillon, stirring a debate about Switzerland's firearm laws that allow men to keep guns after their mandatory military service.
There is no national gun register but some estimates indicate that at least one in every three of Switzerland's 8 million inhabitants keeps a gun, many stored at home. Citizens outside the military can apply for a permit to purchase up to three weapons from the age of 18 in a country where sharp shooting and hunting are popular sports.
A shooting in the Zug regional parliament in 2001, in which 14 people were killed, prompted calls to tighten laws, but the majority of Swiss citizens rejected a proposal in 2011 for extra measures such as lock-ups for guns outside service periods.
(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Louise Ireland)
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ ??Today, Forbes Travel Guide formally announced its 55th annual yearly listing of Five-Star hospitality establishments & named the - Tower Suites & spas at Wynn & Encore Las Vegas, & the - hotels & spas at Wynn Macau & Encore Macau, to the - prestigious & rigorous ratings list. Forbes Travel Guide?s Star rating designations are the - gold standard for hospitality excellence.
Collectively, Wynn Resorts has 40 stars among their Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Award winning properties, more than any other independent hotel company in the - world. ??
?The Forbes Five-Stars are generally regarded as the - most prestigious & stringent of all hotel & resort rating institutions,? asserted Steve Wynn, chairman & CEO of Wynn resorts. ?Our new awards at Encore Macau, Five-Stars in both the - spa & hotel, & the - latest Five-Stars for both the - spa & hotel at Wynn Macau, create a clean sweep for our Macau hotels. Our ongoing Five- Stars for both the - spas & hotels at Encore Las Vegas NV & Wynn Las Vegas NV afford us the - honor of holding more Forbes Stars than any other independent resort company in the - world.?
Wynn continued, ?We are, of course, thrilled at this wonderful distinction. Yet, we recognize & covet the - most noteworthy of all ratings ? ? the - satisfaction of each guest at each of our hotels every day.?
Encore Macau, Wynn Macau?s sister resort, debuted on the - distinguished list this year & earned Five-Star awards for its hotel & spa. Wynn Macau & The Spa at Wynn Macau were moreover bestowed Five-Star awards again this year. Wynn & Encore Macau were two of five casino resorts to receive Five-Stars in Macau.
The Tower Suites at Wynn & Encore Las Vegas NV continue to earn accolades & have once again earned Forbes Five-Star Awards. Additionally, the - spas at Wynn & Encore were honored this year & are among only four spas in Las Vegas NV to be recognized with Forbes Five-Star awards.
?The Forbes Travel Guide annual yearly Star Awards represent the - best in class in luxury hospitality. Travelers looking for exceptional experiences rely on our ratings to guide them to the - world?s finest hotels, restaurants & spas,? asserted Michael Cascone, President & COO of Forbes Travel Guide. ?By continuing to evolve our ratings categories, we are establishing a global benchmark for the - highest standards in hospitality service & facilities.?
For a detailed explanation of how Forbes Travel Guide compiles its Star ratings, visit www.startle.com/about/ratings.
About Wynn Resorts: Wynn Resorts, Limited (WYNN) is traded on the - Nasdaq Global Select Market under the - ticker symbol WYNN & is part of the - S&P 500 & NASDAQ-100 Indexes. Wynn Resorts owns & operates Wynn & Encore Las Vegas NV (www.wynnlasvegas.com) & Wynn Macau (www.wynnmacau.com).
Wynn & Encore Las Vegas NV feature two luxury hotel towers with a total of 4,750 spacious hotel rooms, suites & villas, approximately 186,000 square feet of casino space, 32 food & beverage outlets featuring signature chefs, two award-winning spas, an on-site 18-hole golf course, meeting space, a Ferrari & Maserati dealership, approximately 94,000 square feet of retail space as well as two showrooms; three nightclubs & a beach club.
Wynn Macau is a destination casino located in the - Macau Special Administrative Region of the - People?s Republic of China with two luxury hotel towers with a total of 1,008 spacious rooms & suites, approximately 265,000 square feet of casino space, casual & fine dining in eight restaurants, approximately 54,600 square feet of retail space, recreation & leisure facilities, in addition to two health clubs, two spas & a pool.
About Forbes Travel Guide & Startle.com Forbes Travel Guide, formerly Mobil Travel Guide & originator of the - prestigious Five Star ratings & certifications, has provided the - travel industry?s most comprehensive ratings & reviews of hotels, restaurants & spas since 1958. Forbes Travel Guide has a team of expert inspectors who anonymously evaluate properties against rigorous & objective standards, providing consumers the - insight to make better-informed travel & leisure decisions. The information gathered from the - inspectors? visits can be found along with content by curated hospitality experts, tastemakers, Forbes Travel Guide editors & correspondents at Startle.com, online home of Forbes Travel Guide.
Wreckage at the scene of a hot air balloon crash near Luxor, Egypt on February 26, 2013.
?
By Ayman Mohyeldin, Charlene Gubash and John Newland, NBC News
A hot air balloon carrying foreign tourists caught on fire while it was in the air near Egypt's ancient city of Luxor, killing 19 people, officials said Tuesday.
During an aerial tour of Egypt's ancient Valley of the Kings, a hot air balloon exploded and fell to the ground in a fiery crash, killing multiple tourists on board. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.
The blazing balloon crashed to the ground early Tuesday morning, Gen. Mamdough Khaled, director of security for Luxor Governorate said in a statement, according to initial reports.
Khaled said that Luxor International Hospital had received 19 badly burned bodies. Health officials initially said 18 people died, but later said one injured person had succumbed to their injuries.
Ahmed Aboud, who runs another balloon company and acts as a spokesman for balloon operators in the area,?and Khaled said two people survived. Khaled said both were in critical condition.
There were conflicting accounts of the accident itself.
Aboud said that gas tanks caught fire and ignited the balloon at about 1,000 feet.
But an eyewitness, who did not want to be identified, said the balloon was about 12 feet off the ground when a landing rope was thrown to people on the ground. As they grabbed it, the rope wrapped around a gas container, which broke and a fire then started, the witness said.
People 'like balls of fire' The witness estimated the balloon then ?shot up 500 meters" (1,640 feet) and the pilot "jumped out as it was going up.?
?Eight people jumped and they were like balls of fire, some were alive when they landed, but then died on the ground, then the balloon went up and down again and swept along, then a second explosion occurred when another gas canister exploded,? he added.
Another eyewitness told al-Jazeera television that the balloon was ?like a fireball when it went up.?
One Egyptian was killed, Health Minister Mohamed Mostafa Hamed told Reuters, listing the other victims as tourists from Japan, China, France, Britain and Hungary. Earlier, officials had said all the dead were foreigners.?
A U.S. Embassy spokesperson said that no Americans were among the victims, citing information from local police. ?
Thomas Cook Group, a major British travel company, said four of its customers on a seven-day holiday had opted to go on the balloon ride and three had died. A fourth remained in a hospital Tuesday.
"We recommend a number of suppliers" after vetting them, Thomas Cook spokeswoman Emma Staples said. "This one [the balloon company] would have been deemed a reputable supplier."
Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook's chief executive, called the accident "a terrible tragedy" and said in a statement that the company was sending counseling teams to Luxor. It has stopped promoting and selling balloon flights there while an investigation is conducted, he added.?
Konny Matthews, assistant manager of Luxor's Al Moudira hotel, told Reuters by phone that she heard a boom around 7 a.m. (12 a.m. ET).
Courtesy Christopher Michel
Hot air balloons take off near the ancient city of Luxor on Tuesday before the tragedy occurred.
"It was a huge bang. It was a frightening bang, even though it was several kilometers away from the hotel," she added. "Some of my employees said that their homes were shaking."?
A team of investigators was sent to Luxor, authorities said, and a moratorium was imposed on balloon flights.?
The site of the accident has seen past crashes. In 2009, 16 tourists were injured when their balloon struck a cellphone transmission tower. A year earlier, seven tourists were injured in a similar crash.
Egypt's tourism industry has been decimated since the 18-day uprising in 2011 against autocrat leader Hosni Mubarak and the political turmoil that followed and continues to this day.
Luxor's hotels are currently about 25 percent full in what is supposed to be the peak of the winter season.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related:
PhotoBlog: Hot air balloon crash kills 19 in Egypt
This story was originally published on Tue Feb 26, 2013 2:22 AM EST
Blueprint for an artificial brainPublic release date: 26-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Andy Thomas andy.thomas@uni-bielefeld.de 49-521-106-2540 University of Bielefeld
Bielefeld physicist Andy Thomas takes nature as his model
This press release is available in German.
Scientists have long been dreaming about building a computer that would work like a brain. This is because a brain is far more energy-saving than a computer, it can learn by itself, and it doesn't need any programming. Privatdozent [senior lecturer] Dr. Andy Thomas from Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics is experimenting with memristors electronic microcomponents that imitate natural nerves. Thomas and his colleagues proved that they could do this a year ago. They constructed a memristor that is capable of learning. Andy Thomas is now using his memristors as key components in a blueprint for an artificial brain. He will be presenting his results at the beginning of March in the print edition of the prestigious Journal of Physics published by the Institute of Physics in London.
Memristors are made of fine nanolayers and can be used to connect electric circuits. For several years now, the memristor has been considered to be the electronic equivalent of the synapse. Synapses are, so to speak, the bridges across which nerve cells (neurons) contact each other. Their connections increase in strength the more often they are used. Usually, one nerve cell is connected to other nerve cells across thousands of synapses.
Like synapses, memristors learn from earlier impulses. In their case, these are electrical impulses that (as yet) do not come from nerve cells but from the electric circuits to which they are connected. The amount of current a memristor allows to pass depends on how strong the current was that flowed through it in the past and how long it was exposed to it.
Andy Thomas explains that because of their similarity to synapses, memristors are particularly suitable for building an artificial brain a new generation of computers. 'They allow us to construct extremely energy-efficient and robust processors that are able to learn by themselves.' Based on his own experiments and research findings from biology and physics, his article is the first to summarize which principles taken from nature need to be transferred to technological systems if such a neuromorphic (nerve like) computer is to function. Such principles are that memristors, just like synapses, have to 'note' earlier impulses, and that neurons react to an impulse only when it passes a certain threshold.
Thanks to these properties, synapses can be used to reconstruct the brain process responsible for learning, says Andy Thomas. He takes the classic psychological experiment with Pavlov's dog as an example. The experiment shows how you can link the natural reaction to a stimulus that elicits a reflex response with what is initially a neutral stimulus this is how learning takes place. If the dog sees food, it reacts by salivating. If the dog hears a bell ring every time it sees food, this neutral stimulus will become linked to the stimulus eliciting a reflex response. As a result, the dog will also salivate when it hears only the bell ringing and no food is in sight. The reason for this is that the nerve cells in the brain that transport the stimulus eliciting a reflex response have strong synaptic links with the nerve cells that trigger the reaction.
If the neutral bell-ringing stimulus is introduced at the same time as the food stimulus, the dog will learn. The control mechanism in the brain now assumes that the nerve cells transporting the neutral stimulus (bell ringing) are also responsible for the reaction the link between the actually 'neutral' nerve cell and the 'salivation' nerve cell also becomes stronger. This link can be trained by repeatedly bringing together the stimulus eliciting a reflex response and the neutral stimulus. 'You can also construct such a circuit with memristors this is a first step towards a neuromorphic processor,' says Andy Thomas.
'This is all possible because a memristor can store information more precisely than the bits on which previous computer processors have been based,' says Thomas. Both a memristor and a bit work with electrical impulses. However, a bit does not allow any fine adjustment it can only work with 'on' and 'off'. In contrast, a memristor can raise or lower its resistance continuously. 'This is how memristors deliver a basis for the gradual learning and forgetting of an artificial brain,' explains Thomas.
###
Original publication:
Andy Thomas, 'Memristor-based neural networks', Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/46/9/093001, released online on 5 February 2013, published in print on 6 March 2013.
For further information in the Internet, go to:
www.spinelectronics.de.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Blueprint for an artificial brainPublic release date: 26-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Andy Thomas andy.thomas@uni-bielefeld.de 49-521-106-2540 University of Bielefeld
Bielefeld physicist Andy Thomas takes nature as his model
This press release is available in German.
Scientists have long been dreaming about building a computer that would work like a brain. This is because a brain is far more energy-saving than a computer, it can learn by itself, and it doesn't need any programming. Privatdozent [senior lecturer] Dr. Andy Thomas from Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics is experimenting with memristors electronic microcomponents that imitate natural nerves. Thomas and his colleagues proved that they could do this a year ago. They constructed a memristor that is capable of learning. Andy Thomas is now using his memristors as key components in a blueprint for an artificial brain. He will be presenting his results at the beginning of March in the print edition of the prestigious Journal of Physics published by the Institute of Physics in London.
Memristors are made of fine nanolayers and can be used to connect electric circuits. For several years now, the memristor has been considered to be the electronic equivalent of the synapse. Synapses are, so to speak, the bridges across which nerve cells (neurons) contact each other. Their connections increase in strength the more often they are used. Usually, one nerve cell is connected to other nerve cells across thousands of synapses.
Like synapses, memristors learn from earlier impulses. In their case, these are electrical impulses that (as yet) do not come from nerve cells but from the electric circuits to which they are connected. The amount of current a memristor allows to pass depends on how strong the current was that flowed through it in the past and how long it was exposed to it.
Andy Thomas explains that because of their similarity to synapses, memristors are particularly suitable for building an artificial brain a new generation of computers. 'They allow us to construct extremely energy-efficient and robust processors that are able to learn by themselves.' Based on his own experiments and research findings from biology and physics, his article is the first to summarize which principles taken from nature need to be transferred to technological systems if such a neuromorphic (nerve like) computer is to function. Such principles are that memristors, just like synapses, have to 'note' earlier impulses, and that neurons react to an impulse only when it passes a certain threshold.
Thanks to these properties, synapses can be used to reconstruct the brain process responsible for learning, says Andy Thomas. He takes the classic psychological experiment with Pavlov's dog as an example. The experiment shows how you can link the natural reaction to a stimulus that elicits a reflex response with what is initially a neutral stimulus this is how learning takes place. If the dog sees food, it reacts by salivating. If the dog hears a bell ring every time it sees food, this neutral stimulus will become linked to the stimulus eliciting a reflex response. As a result, the dog will also salivate when it hears only the bell ringing and no food is in sight. The reason for this is that the nerve cells in the brain that transport the stimulus eliciting a reflex response have strong synaptic links with the nerve cells that trigger the reaction.
If the neutral bell-ringing stimulus is introduced at the same time as the food stimulus, the dog will learn. The control mechanism in the brain now assumes that the nerve cells transporting the neutral stimulus (bell ringing) are also responsible for the reaction the link between the actually 'neutral' nerve cell and the 'salivation' nerve cell also becomes stronger. This link can be trained by repeatedly bringing together the stimulus eliciting a reflex response and the neutral stimulus. 'You can also construct such a circuit with memristors this is a first step towards a neuromorphic processor,' says Andy Thomas.
'This is all possible because a memristor can store information more precisely than the bits on which previous computer processors have been based,' says Thomas. Both a memristor and a bit work with electrical impulses. However, a bit does not allow any fine adjustment it can only work with 'on' and 'off'. In contrast, a memristor can raise or lower its resistance continuously. 'This is how memristors deliver a basis for the gradual learning and forgetting of an artificial brain,' explains Thomas.
###
Original publication:
Andy Thomas, 'Memristor-based neural networks', Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/46/9/093001, released online on 5 February 2013, published in print on 6 March 2013.
For further information in the Internet, go to:
www.spinelectronics.de.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Feb. 22, 2013 ? A protein involved in the internal cell scaffold is associated with increased risk of metastasis and mortality in a range of common cancers finds a meta-analysis published in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine.
The protein, fascin-1, is involved in bundling together the actin filaments which form the internal scaffolding of a cell and are involved in cell movement. Though it is absent, or only present at a low level in normal epithelial cells, several small studies have shown fascin-1 to be increased in many carcinomas, but its role in metastasis and mortality risk has been uncertain.
Researchers from the University of Bristol combined and reanalysed data from 26 studies looking at five different types of carcinomas. The meta-analysis showed that increased fascin-1 was associated with increased risk of mortality in breast, colorectal and esophageal carcinomas but not in gastric or lung carcinoma. It was also associated with disease progression in breast and colorectal carcinoma, but not lung carcinoma. It was associated with local and distant metastasis in colorectal and gastric carcinomas but there was no involvement of fascin-1 in metastasis of esophageal carcinomas.
These results show that the picture is not simple and that different types of cancer are affected in different ways. The story of fascin-1 not only provides a biomarker and potential avenue for research into anti-cancer therapy but also demonstrates the complexity of cancer.
Josephine Adams and Richard Martin who led this study said, "Our results show that fascin-1 is associated with several types of human carcinomas. The results will help focus further research into fascin-1 as a marker and potential target for cancer therapy to the most relevant types of carcinomas."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Vanessa Y Tan, Sarah J Lewis, Josephine C Adams and Richard M Martin. Association of fascin-1 with mortality, disease progression and metastasis in carcinomas: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medicine, 2013 (in press) [link]
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
LONDON (Reuters) - The lawyer for the family of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was murdered in London in 2006, accused Britain and Russia on Tuesday of colluding to try to shut down an inquiry into his death for the sake of lucrative trade deals.
Litvinenko, who had been granted British citizenship and had become a vocal critic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, died after someone slipped polonium-210, a rare radioactive isotope, into his cup of tea at a plush London hotel.
At a pre-inquest hearing at London's Royal Courts of Justice, lawyers for Litvinenko's widow said Britain was now trying to keep secret details of his work for its MI6 intelligence service, and material which showed Russia was behind his death.
"It is crucial, absolutely crucial, that the outcome of this hearing is to scotch, once and for all, any possible suggestion that it is because (British Prime Minister) David Cameron is interested in promoting trade with Russia that he is trying to close down the truth about this inquest," said Marina Litvinenko's lawyer, Ben Emmerson.
British police and prosecutors say there is enough evidence to charge two former KGB agents, Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, with murder, while Litvinenko put his name to a deathbed statement accusing Putin of ordering his death to silence him, a claim dismissed by the Kremlin as nonsense.
Russia refused to extradite Lugovoy, who denies any involvement in the killing, and ties between Britain and Russia fell to a post-Cold War low in the immediate aftermath.
However, Cameron has sought to improve relations and strengthen business links since he came to power in 2010.
He secured 215 million pounds ($325 million) worth of business deals during a flying 24-hour visit to Russia in September, 2011. Britain has been the fifth-largest investor in the Russian economy since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, according to Russian statistics.
At Tuesday's hearing, lawyers for British Foreign Secretary William Hague argued sensitive information held by the government about Litvinenko should be subject to a public interest immunity (PII) certificate, preventing it from being publicly revealed.
"SERIOUS HARM TO PUBLIC INTEREST"
"The disclosure of material would pose a real risk of serious harm to public interest," said lawyer Neil Sheldon. Hague, he said, had considered all other options but had concluded nothing short of a PII certificate would be sufficient.
At a hearing in December, a lawyer acting on behalf of the inquest indicated Britain held information which established "a prima facie case as to the culpability of the Russian state".
Emmerson said withholding such material would defeat the whole purpose of the inquest, which is held under British law when a person dies unexpectedly to determine the cause of death.
"He (Hague) is approaching his coverup responsibilities, and that is what they are, with alacrity and enthusiasm," said Emmerson. "We can't allow Her Majesty's Government, by misusing the PII system, to force this inquest to dance to the Russian tarantella."
He mocked the government's "neither confirm nor deny" policy on whether Litvinenko, 43, was a paid MI6 agent, saying his legal team had evidence he was.
He said if the coroner, High Court judge Robert Owen, granted the PII request, he could potentially be shown secret evidence which conclusively showed the Kremlin was complicit in murder, but would then have to issue a public judgment which exonerated Russia of any involvement.
"This has all the hallmarks of a situation which is shaping up to become a stain on British justice," said Emmerson.
Owen, who earlier said the long-delayed full inquest was now unlikely to start on May 1 as planned, said he would give his ruling on the PII certificates on Wednesday morning.
Hague said on his Twitter page on Tuesday that he would be meeting Russia's Foreign and Defence Ministers London on March 13 to discuss foreign policy and "bilateral issues".
The U.S. Coast Guard is asking members of the public to help identify the source of a debris field, which included this large portion of a vessel, spotted Sunday in the Atlantic Ocean about 22 miles east of Jacksonville.
By Craig Giammona, Staff Writer, NBC News
The U.S. Coast Guard is trying to figure out what happened to a deceased man found floating in the Atlantic Ocean Sunday near the wreckage of a boat about 22 miles east of Jacksonville, Fla., according to authorities.
The search for potential survivors continued Monday, with Coast Guard boats on the scene gathering evidence and looking for other people who may have been on the boat, said Lt. Grant Johnson, a Coast Guard public affairs officer.
Investigators have not yet identified the boat and don't know where it came from or where it was headed, Johnson said.
Approximately 10 life jackets were found near the boat debris, but the Coast Guard has not found evidence that other people were on the boat.
"We're working under the assumption other people were on board," Johnson said. "We're going to err on the side of safety. With the lack of evidence we're inclined to continue searching until we know otherwise."
The Coast Guard found the man's passport and believe he is a 49-year-old who last lived in Miami, according to Johnson. His body was recovered and taken to the medical examiner's office in Jacksonville, Johnson said.
Officials declined to identify the man pending notification of his family. The Coast Guard is working with local law enforcement to find his family and figure out what may have happened to the boat.
The Coast Guard did not receive a distress call related to the vessel, two large pieces of which were found near the body, Johnson said.
The wreckage was first spotted around 6 p.m. Sunday evening by an aircrew from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The Coast Guard searched through the night for survivors, with boats and aircraft involved in the operation. Bad weather in the Jacksonville area prevented Coast Guard aircraft from searching the debris field this morning, but three boats remained on the scene looking for survivors and gathering evidence, Johnson said.
The tagged animals traveled to and took measurements from a fourth known source of bottom water, a crucial oceanic heat-sink
By Richard A. Lovett and Nature magazine
Southern elephant seals fitted with satellite-linked instruments similar to the one above helped oceanographers map deep currents off Antarctica.Image: Flickr/Census of Marine Life E&O
By tracking the voyages of elephant seals off Antarctica, and with the help of satellite imaging and undersea sensors, researchers have discovered a long-elusive source for the deep-ocean streams of cold water that help to regulate the Earth's climate.
Antarctic bottom water (AABW) is cold, highly saline water that forms near the shores of Antarctica. Being denser than typical seawater, it sinks to the depths and then moves north in sluggish currents that spread across the globe.
Three sources of AABW were known until now. The first, in the Weddell Sea, was found in 1940; two others were found in the Ross Sea and along the Ad?lie Coast of East Antarctica in the 1960s and ?70s. But for years, researchers have suggested that these were not the only ones. In particular, water samples from an area called the Weddell Gyre contain atmospheric pollutants known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), indicating that the deep water came into contact with the air far too recently to have been carried there from one of the known AABW sinks.
Now, Kay Ohshima, a physical oceanographer at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan, and his colleagues have traced that water to a fourth AABW source, in the Cape Darnley polynya. Their results are published today in Nature Geoscience.
Polynyas are regions of open water near sea ice that are kept from freezing by wind and currents that sweep newly formed ice away. Polynyas have relatively high salinity, because most of the salt in sea water is expelled as it freezes.
Armed with the hypothesis that the missing source might be such a polynya, the researchers used satellite sensors to hunt for polynya regions where ice formed particularly rapidly. When satellite data suggested that Cape Darnley might be a candidate, the researchers moored instruments on the seabed, hoping to spot the descending current. In addition, they relied on data from elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) tagged with instruments that monitor ocean conditions.
?The seals went to an area of the coastline that no ship was ever going to get to, particularly in the middle of winter,? says Guy Williams, a physical oceanographer at the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Center in Hobart, Australia, and a co-author of the study.
The elephant seals confirmed the researchers' hunch. ?Several of the seals foraged on the continental slope as far down as 1,800 meters,? he says, ?punching through into a layer of this dense water cascading down to the abyss. They gave us very rare and valuable wintertime measurements of this process.?
The new finding fills a gap in researchers? understanding of the Southern Ocean?s role in global climate, ?including carbon dioxide, temperature, the stability of the Antarctic ice sheet and changes in sea level", says Richard Alley, a geophysicist at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, who was not part of the study.
Still, Williams and Ohshima say that the Cape Darnley polynya represents, at most, about one-eighth of the world?s AABW, and that other, similar sources might remain to be discovered.
Michael Meredith, a polar oceanographer at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, UK, who wrote an accompanying commentary on the study, says that if the total rate of AABW formation declines, the resulting changes in cold-water circulation could have important effects on global climate, letting the ocean depths warm and thereby changing the rate of heat exchange between Antarctica and the tropics. Moreover, he says, sea levels could rise ? owing to the fact that water expands as it warms ? and temperature changes could affect deep-sea ecosystems.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government is likely to nominate Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda, an advocate of aggressive monetary easing, as its next central bank governor, sources told Reuters on Monday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also seen filling one of two deputy governor posts with Kikuo Iwata, an academic critical of Bank of Japan policy and an advocate of unorthodox monetary easing steps, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
The yen fell to a 33-month low and yields on five-year government bonds hit a record low as markets moved to factor in a more aggressive monetary policy, a key plank in the prime minister's economic vision, dubbed by media as Abenomics.
"Kuroda is a fan of a weaker yen and of deflation bashing," said Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale in London.
Abe won a resounding election victory in December promising to finally rid Japan of nearly 20 years of deflation. He has said wants to BOJ governor keener to experiment with radical steps to revive the economy.
Kuroda has long criticized the BOJ as too slow in expanding stimulus, so he would be expected to push the central bank into more radical efforts to achieve a 2 percent inflation target set in January.
"Kuroda's nomination won't change the course that has been dictated by Abe in recent months - that is aggressive monetary policy, but perhaps thanks to the inclusion of Iwata the market will expect more eye-catching bold easing measures," said Masamichi Adachi, senior economist at JPMorgan Securities in Tokyo.
The government will submit this week its nominations for the governor and two deputy governor posts. The names must be approved by both houses of parliament, which means Abe will need opposition support because he lacks a majority in the upper house. The incumbents leave March 19.
In a further sign of support for Kuroda, Japan's Jiji news agency quoted an unidentified executive member of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), saying he met its criteria for a BOJ chief so he would be hard to oppose.
If approved, the nominations will increase the chance that the BOJ will ease monetary policy again on April 3-4, the first rate review under the new leadership, say sources familiar with the central bank's thinking. The BOJ might adopt measures that go beyond its existing asset-buying program, they said.
"Monetary easing is pretty much a given. The question is what specifically the BOJ will do," said one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Kuroda, 68, has been considered a strong candidate to replace current BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa because of his extensive experience in international policy and his calls for more aggressive monetary easing that matched the views of Abe.
As Japan's top financial diplomat from 1999 to 2003, he aggressively intervened in the exchange-rate market to weaken the yen to support the country's export-reliant economy, a sign he will be keen to keep any sharp yen rises in check.
The other deputy governor post will probably be filled by a central banker, most likely BOJ Executive Director Hiroshi Nakaso, who now oversees the central bank's international operations, the Nikkei said without citing sources.
YEN SLIDE
The yen has weakened nearly 20 percent against the dollar since November, when Abe began calling for bolder monetary easing. On Monday, it fell 1.4 percent to 94.67 per dollar and Japan's five-year government bond yield hit a record low.
The cheaper yen has helped improve profits at Japanese exporters, notably carmakers like Mazda Motor Corp, which raised its operating profit outlook for the year ending in March by 80 percent.
But it has also sparked international concern the fall could prompt competitive currency devaluations as many countries are struggling for growth and to reduce debt following the global financial crisis.
Shirakawa's last rate review will be on March 6-7. The BOJ meets twice in April, once on April 3-4 and then on April 26.
Kuroda has called for the BOJ to achieve its 2 percent inflation target in two years by pumping money into the economy through unorthodox steps, such as expanding government bond purchases and buying shares.
He has ruled out foreign bond buying as a policy option, which suggests that any new measures the BOJ might take under Kuroda will likely include buying longer-dated Japanese government bonds or more purchases of private debt.
Abe has stressed the need for the new governor to have international contacts, suggesting he prefers someone with experience in financial diplomacy, like Kuroda who, as president of the 67-member ADB rubs shoulders with policymakers around the world.
Still, if Kuroda were chosen as next BOJ governor, he would be cutting short his term as head of the ADB, which could weaken Japan's standing as the country that traditionally provides the head of an organization established in 1966.
The premier has the power to choose the government's nominee for BOJ governor, although he usually respects the views of the finance minister and the ministry's bureaucrats because they work closely with the central bank on economic policy.
The finance ministry, which wields a great deal of influence over monetary policy, lobbied for former financial bureaucrat Toshiro Muto, but was likely turned down by Abe and his aides who saw him as lacking international contacts and less willing to experiment with untried monetary easing steps.
(Additional reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Dean Yates and Neil Fullick)
Feb 25 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 2. Matt Kuchar $1,987,000 3. Hunter Mahan $1,412,965 4. John Merrick $1,296,014 5. Phil Mickelson $1,232,760 6. Dustin Johnson $1,200,125 7. Tiger Woods $1,144,000 8. Russell Henley $1,129,080 9. Brian Gay $1,089,181 10. Charles Howell III $1,087,944 11. Jason Day $1,009,164 12. Chris Kirk $990,013 13. Steve Stricker $940,000 14. Josh Teater $870,934 15. Bill Haas $816,300 16. Jimmy Walker $812,620 17. Scott Piercy $789,592 18. Charlie Beljan $785,800 19. ...
Aka, How to Twist Science to Reinforce Gender Stereotypes
Stylized rendering of FOXP2 attached to DNA (Wikipedia, Creative Commons License)
Genes are subject to multiple layers of regulation.? An early regulatory point is transcription.? During this process, regulatory proteins bind to DNA regions (promoters and enhancers) that direct gene expression.? These DNA/protein complexes attract the transcription apparatus, which docks next to the complex and proceeds linearly downstream, producing the heteronuclear (hn) RNA that is encoded by the gene linked to the promoter.? The hnRNA is then spliced and either becomes structural/regulatory RNA or is translated into protein.
Transcription factors are members of large clans that arose from ancestral genes that went through successive duplications and then diverged to fit specific niches.? One such family of about fifty members is called FOX. Their DNA binding portion is shaped like a butterfly, which has given this particular motif the monikers of forkhead box or winged helix.? The activities of the FOX proteins extend widely in time and region.? One of the FOX family members is FOXP2, as notorious as Fox News ? except for different reasons: FOXP2 has become entrenched in popular consciousness as ?the language gene?.? As is the case with all such folklore, there is some truth in this; but as is the case with everything in biology, reality is far more complex.
FOXP2, the first gene found to ?affect language? (more on this anon), was discovered in 2001 by several converging observations and techniques.? The clincher was a large family (code name KE), some of whose members had severe articulation and grammatical deficits with no accompanying sensory or cognitive impairment.? The inheritance is autosomal dominant: one copy of the mutated gene is sufficient to confer the trait. When the researchers definitively identified the FOXP2 gene, they found that the version of FOXP2 carried by the KE affected members has a single point mutation that alters an invariant residue in its forkhead domain, thereby influencing the protein?s binding to its DNA targets.
Like all transcription factors, FOXP2 regulates many promoters. The primary domains of FOXP2 influence are brain and lung development.? Some of its downstream targets are themselves regulators of brain function (most prominently neurexin CNTNAP2).? Not surprisingly, deleting or mutating both FOXP2 copies in mice results in early death, whereas doing so to one copy leads to decreased vocalization and slightly impaired motor learning. FOXP2 is broadly conserved across vertebrates, but its critical functional regions have tiny but telling differences even between humans and their closest ape relatives.? Like other genes that influence human-specific attributes, human FOXP2 seems to have undergone positive selection during the broad intervals of crucial speciation events.? Along related lines, Neanderthals and Denisovans apparently had the same FOXP2 allele as contemporary humans, and by this criterion were fully capable of the articulation that makes language possible.
Which brings us to the nub of the issue.? What does FOXP2 do in brain?? Genes don?t encode higher-order functions, let alone behavior.? Also recall that the KE family members have a very circumscribed defect, despite its dramatic manifestation.? Finally, keep firmly in mind that language in humans includes a complex genetic component that involves many loci and just as many environmental interactions.? FOXP2 does not encode inherent language ability.? Instead, the time and place of its expression as well as studies in cell systems and other organisms (zebra finches, rodents) indicate that FOXP2 may be involved in neuronal plasticity, which in turn modulates capacity for learning by forming new synaptic connections.? FOXP2 may also be involved in regulation of motor neuron control in certain brain regions (cortical motor areas, cerebellum, striatum) that affect the ability to vocalize, sing and, in humans, form the complex sounds of language.
Given its connection, however over-interpreted, to ?what makes a human? as well as its chromosomal location (in 7q31, which also harbors candidates for autism and dementia), it?s not surprising that FOXP2 has acquired quasi-mythic dimensions in the lay imagination.? However, careful studies have shown that the genes on 7q31 responsible for autism and dementia are distinct from FOXP2.? Also, as I said earlier, FOXP2 does not code for language ability ? and even less for its culturally determined manifestations (many of which are a minefield of confirmation biases, unquestioned assumptions and simply sloppy work).
Gender Words. Mark Liberman?s Language Log, Sept. 2006
The latest round in the misrepresentation of FOXP2 is the gone-viral variation of ?there?s more of this ?language protein? in the left hemisphere of 4-year girls and that?s why women are three times as talkative as men?.? This came from the PR pitch of a research team who did a study primarily on rats (which confirmed the link between FOXP2 levels and vocalization) and then, perhaps attempting to latch onto a catchy soundbite, extended the gender link to humans based on? a single PCR amplification of ten Broca?s area cortices (from postmortem brains of 4-year olds, five from each sex; Broca?s area is involved in language processing).
To begin with, all studies conducted so far definitively show that women and men utter the same number of words by any metric chosen ? and that in fact men talk more than women in mixed-gender conversations (to say nothing of the gender-linked ratio of interruptions).? And whereas it?s true that girls develop vocal competence slightly earlier than boys and show higher linguistic skills during the early acquisition window, this difference is transient.? Furthermore, the FOXP1 control that the authors of the study argue does not show a gender-correlated change (unlike FOXP2) in fact is on the verge of doing so, and the relative statistical significances might well change if a larger number of samples were tested.? Finally, whereas decrease of FOXP2 reduces vocalization and increases pitch in male rat pups, it has the opposite effect in female rat pups.? In other words, the correlation between FOXP2 levels and vocalization/pitch is not straightforward even in rats.
In the larger context of expression and reception of vocalizations, the difference is not how much women talk, but how welcome and/or valued their input is.? Even trivial zomboid blathering is given higher value if it?s culturally coded as masculine (examples: sport newscasters; most congressmen).? In fairness to the researchers of the study that caused all this rehashing of kneejerk stereotypes and evopsycho Tarzanism, here is the concluding paragraph of their paper.? It states something both measured and, frankly, obvious:
?Gender is a purely human construct consisting of both self and others? perception of one?s sex and is arguably the first and most salient of all phenotypic variables. Sex differences in how language is received and processed and how speech is produced has the potential to influence gender both within and external to an individual. Whether human sex differences in FOXP2, and possibly FOXP1 as well, contribute to gender variation in language is a question for future research.?
Relevant publications and links:
Lai CS, Fisher SE, Hurst JA, Vargha-Khadem F, Monaco AP (2001).? A forkhead-domain gene is mutated in a severe speech and language disorder. Nature 413(6855):519-23.
White SA, Fisher SE, Geschwind DH, Scharff C, Holy TE (2006).? Singing mice, songbirds, and more: models for FOXP2 function and dysfunction in human speech and language. J. Neurosci. 26(41):10376-9.
Bowers JM, Perez-Pouchoulen M, Edwards NS, McCarthy MM (2013).? FOXP2 mediates sex differences in ultrasonic vocalization by rat pups and directs order of maternal retrieval. J. Neurosci. 33(8):3276-83.
Mark Liberman.? Gabby Guys: The Effect size (Language Log, Sept. 23, 2006)
Mark Liberman.? An Invented Statistic Returns (Language Log, Feb. 22, 2013)
Athena Andreadis.? Eldorado Desperadoes: Of Mice and Men (Starship Reckless, July 18, 2009)
Athena Andreadis.? Miranda Wrongs: Reading Too Much into the Genome (Starship Reckless, June 10, 2011)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Kerry views his first trip as U.S. secretary of state as a listening tour, but the leaders he meets will want to hear whether he has any new ideas on Syria, Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kerry left Washington on Sunday for London, the first stop on a nine-nation, 11-day trip that will also take him to Berlin, Paris, Rome, Ankara, Cairo, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Doha before he returns home on March 6.
It is an introductory trip for a man who needs little introduction abroad after spending 28 years in the U.S. Senate, all of them as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the last four as its chairman.
After talks with allies in London, Berlin and Paris, Kerry travels to Rome to meet members of the Syrian opposition as well as a wider group of nations seeking to support them in their nearly two-year quest to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
While the opposition Syrian National Coalition is willing to negotiate a peace deal to end the country's civil war, members this week agreed that Assad must step down and cannot be a party to any settlement.
The political chasm between the sides, along with a lack of opposition influence over rebels on the ground and an international diplomatic deadlock preventing effective intervention, has allowed fighting to rage on. Almost 70,000 people have been killed in 22 months of conflict, according to a U.N. estimate.
U.S. President Barack Obama has limited U.S. support to non-lethal aid for the rebels who, despite receiving weapons from countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are poorly armed compared to Assad's army and loyalist militias.
Although the Obama administration appears to be rethinking the question of arming the rebels, there are few signs it is on the verge of a new approach toward Syria, said Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank.
"I have a hard time imagining that this is the time to float a new American strategy because he (Kerry) still doesn't have a counterpart in the Department of Defense (and) the new administration is still getting set up," Alterman said.
"I don't see any sign that there is a new strategy but I do see signs that he wants to be engaged and understand what the options are for moving something in a different direction," he said.
IRAN TALKS
Kerry makes his first foreign trip as senior U.S. diplomats, along with counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, will meet Iranian officials on Tuesday in Kazakhstan in an effort to persuade Iran to curtail its nuclear program.
The United States and many of its allies suspect Iran may be using its civil nuclear program as a cover to develop atomic weapons, a possibility that Israel, which is regarded as the Middle East's only nuclear power, sees as an existential threat.
Iran says its program is solely for peaceful purposes, such as generating electricity and making medical isotopes.
Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution think-tank said Saudi King Abdullah would regard himself, rather than Kerry, as the listening party and want to hear of any new U.S. approaches on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran and other issues.
"The secretary has the tough job of selling as something new an administration (whose) foreign policies are pretty well established," Riedel said.
"There is not a high level of expectation that it is going to be able to break the logjam on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, get Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program and topple Bashar al-Assad," he added. "The Saudis will understand that Kerry will try to put a new face on policies which are now pretty well known but they will be looking for what's new."
(Reporting By Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Paul Simao)
Who doesn't want a little aquatic drone to call their own? Azorean's Ziphius is a partially submerged device that can be controlled via iOS or Android smartphone or tablet. There's an on-board HD camera that offers up visuals to give the user a first-person view both above and below the water. Azorean plans to open the API on the vehicle and software to let developers create all manner of games and apps that'll harness augmented reality. Inside of the drone, you'll find a Raspberry Pi, an Ardunio-based plate and two differential motors. The company's promising intuitive handling and even a bit of autonomy with the Ziphius.
By why talk about it, when we can play you some videos of the little guy in action? You'll find those after the break.
Check out the full list of Insert Coin: New Challengers semifinalists here -- and don't forget to pick a winner!
Louisville assistant Clint Hurtt is accused of committing violations while he was at Miami. (USATSI)
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The NCAA believes former Miami assistant coaches Clint Hurtt, Aubrey Hill and Jorge Fernandez provided false or misleading information during the probe into the Hurricanes' athletic department.
The NCAA said all three violated "principles of ethical conduct" as part of the notice of allegations served against the Hurricanes, according to a person who spoke to the Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the allegations have not been released publicly.
Hurtt and Hill were members of Miami's football staff. Fernandez worked on the men's basketball staff.
Several other coaches are named or referenced in the allegations, including Missouri basketball coach Frank Haith. But only Hurtt, Hill and Fernandez are facing the ethical-conduct charge, commonly known as NCAA Rule 10.1.
Hurtt is currently on the staff at Louisville. Hill is not working as a coach at this time, and Fernandez spent last season as an assistant at Marshall, resigning last May.
The notice of allegations was delivered to Miami on Tuesday, and the university is facing the charge that it had a "lack of institutional control" -- one of the worst things the NCAA can levy against a member school. The charge revolves around how the school allegedly failed to monitor conduct of Nevin Shapiro, a rogue booster and convicted felon who provided cash, gifts and other items to players on the football and men's basketball teams.
University president Donna Shalala said Tuesday night that the Hurricanes have suffered enough already through self-imposed sanctions. Through a university spokesman, she declined further comment Wednesday.
The NCAA said Hurtt and Hill committed the same violations, at least related to the ethical-conduct matter.
The NCAA alleged both provided meals, transportation and lodging to either recruits, current players or both in either 2008 or 2009. Both were interviewed by the NCAA during the course of its probe and allegedly denied providing those extra benefits, statements the NCAA said were contradicted in each case by what players told them separately.
Hurtt also took a $2,500 personal loan from Shapiro, which was repaid. The NCAA also believes he sent about 40 impermissible text messages to recruits, which typically is a secondary, or minor, violation.
Fernandez, the NCAA alleged, "knowingly provided extra benefits" in the form of an air ticket. The NCAA said Fernandez denied using air miles for the tickets for a men's basketball player and a high school coach, despite evidence to the contrary.
In February 2012, Miami center Reggie Johnson was ruled ineligible by the school after an investigation revealed that members of his family accepted "impermissible travel benefits" from a member of the school's former coaching staff, without specifying Fernandez or anyone else by name. The university said Johnson was not aware of the benefits, personally accepted nothing and that his family had been told they were allowed.
Johnson was reinstated quickly last season, and remains a key part of this season's team -- now ranked No. 2 in the nation and leading the Atlantic Coast Conference. The ongoing cloud of the scandal is not hurting the Hurricanes, basketball coach Jim Larranaga said Tuesday night.
"If it was overshadowing what we were doing, this room would not be packed," Larranaga said after his team beat Virginia. "We're getting so much exposure. We can only focus on the things we have control over. We have nothing to do with the investigation."
Several other former Miami coaches are named in the allegations as well, including one-time men's basketball assistant Jake Morton, who the NCAA said, among other things, accepted "supplemental income" of at least $6,000 from Shapiro. Morton is now on the staff at Western Kentucky.
Missouri's Haith is accused of failing "to promote an atmosphere for compliance," a charge specific to how he handled things when Shapiro allegedly wanted money in exchange for not going public with accusations that he paid to help the Hurricanes recruit a player.
Some of the allegations are more than 10 years old, including a claim that Shapiro bought a suit for former Miami star running back Willis McGahee to wear to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in 2002.
Other allegations include that he paid for dinners at Benihana, televisions, sneakers, Miami Heat tickets, bowling parties, one player's engagement ring, a used washer-dryer set for current New England Patriots lineman Vince Wilfork, and that he directed his girlfriend to give two former Hurricanes no-show jobs for a couple of months.
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Public release date: 26-Feb-2013
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